Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Ninetysomething Days of Summer, #3 Summer of '92

As I neared the conclusion of writing the third part of the "Ninetysomething Days of Summer" edition, I realized 1992 could've easily been higher on this list.  Although the summer of 1993 felt more like a coming-of-age season, the summer of '92 provided an ample foundation as it was the first all-around dope summer I ever experienced in twelve-years-and-75-cents of life.  However, perhaps the biggest snub on this countdown could've been enough to propel this summer higher on the list: Boomerang.  Now I could gush over how dope the soundtrack was--more on that later--but the movie was such a huge deal because of how much Black star power was involved between Eddie Murphy, Robin Givens, Halle Berry, Lela Rochon, Grace Jones, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, Tisha Campbell and the late, greats Eartha Kitt and Geoffrey Holder.  Not to mention that after much pleading, Big Dadi Scribbler took me to see it on opening day--although we  missed all of the previews (a moviegoer no-no) and narrowly made it in time.  Despite no movie of that summer making as much of a dent in my memory bank as Boomerang, it still has a hard time beating these five reasons pleading the case for the summer of '92...

A Friendly Game of Pick'em: Exploring the Inconsistency of "Harmless Jokes" on Social Media

This has not been an ideal Olympic run for Team USA's Gabby Douglas, the darling gymnast extraordinaire of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  Douglas was arguably robbed of defending her title in the individual all-around since each country can only send through two representatives in the final.  A costly mistake on a handstand along with other deductions not only kept her from getting a medal in the final on the uneven bars, disappointingly coming in seventh place.  Her only part in any medal was when the team notched gold in the team all-around, but during the medal ceremony, she was excoriated for not putting her hand over her heart during "The Star Spangled Banner" despite Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump doing the exact same thing and receiving little to no flack about it.  However, among Black women in particular, the constant ridicule since 2012 has been about her hair--which has been called "crunchy" and having dandruff while her edges have been criticized for being "straight disrespectful".  Of course, there have been a lot of folks running to her defense, saying things along the lines of "she's competing at the Olympics, while you're at home".

RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!! (Vol. 1, No. 8)

One of my favorite shows to watch with Baby Boy Scribbler is PBS Kids' Peg + Cat.  However, there are days when the show can be called Everybody Loves Ramone because the young brother is so helpful to everyone and always returns a thank you with "I do what I can".  So as I'm watching the "I Do What I Can: The Musical!" episode, the parent in me watching an innocent celebration for an awesome kid with his son gives way to the 21-year-old "adult" in me beginning his "blunder years" (I explain that theory here in case you care to read a throwback) and loving really ignorant gangsta music.  My twisted brain immediately goes to the "Out There Part 2" skit on Project Pat's Mista Don't Play - Everythangs Workin album where one of the dudes says, "F--k that, boys do what they can, men do what they want!"  Instantly I thought, "Well, Ramone is a boy and not a man yet, so....I'm just sayin'."  Hence, I have managed to ruin the reputation of the coolest character from one of my son's favorite TV program.  Good job, Poppa Scribb...good job.  Considering what social media has been doing to the cast of Arthur lately, I better get to the rest of my "RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!!" before another fine PBS Kids cartoon get slaughtered...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Ninetysomething Days of Summer, #4 Summer of '93

Considering how meh the first half of the year was, 1993 improved exponentially in the second half.  However, even with the ninth grade signaling a sea change in the social aspect of my academic career, no season was more enjoyable than the summer.  Although it resembled the summer of '87 with good weather and great music--despite nothing holding a candle to The System's "Don't Disturb This Groove"--the 94 days of the summer of '93 involved more advancement of my strongest academic talents in fun and engaging ways, great field trips, pretty girls and exploration of my wacky teenage hormones.  So to all of y'all who absolutely love the 90s, get ready to take a trip down memory lane as we get into my No. 4 favorite summer of all time and the five things that made the summer of '93 so dope...

RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!! (Vol. 1, No. 7)

I know...this series should be renamed "The WMATA Chronicles" instead of "RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!!" as often as I refer to D.C. Metro, but bear with me for a moment as I elevate my geekdom a smidge.  Although I have been fascinated with Metro since 1985, I have never really been as obsessed over Metrorail as I have been with Metrobus...until now.  Between the AM General buses of the 1970s and the New Flyer XDE40 (aka the "sexy boosas"), Metrorail's shiny new rolling stock manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries is proof that you must have swagger to be part of any WMATA 7000 series.  One day when taking a drive, I saw an eight-car configuration leaving Takoma in the direction of Silver Spring and was actually mad that I was in my car.  (As abysmal as Metrorail has been as of late, that shouldn't ever be the case.)  Lo and behold, my wish was granted a few days later when I was on my way to work and this thing of beauty came rolling into Silver Spring.  So what does the resident H.M.G.I.C. (Head Metro Geek In Charge) like me do when this happens?  Why, snap a 15-second video and convert it into a GIF, of course!  What else would you expect from your ninth favorite blogger?!?!  Come on, the trains just sound like an intergalactic spaceship of epic proportions, slim...and the rest of y'all D.C. folks know y'all feel the same way, too; I'm just dorky enough to admit it.  Now that I've cemented my nerdiness and perhaps put some of you to sleep, I have four more pinches...

Why I Don't Care About Any Other Sport When the Summer Olympics Are On

Ever since the NBA Playoffs were nearing their end and people realized that they would have to suffer through a summer with just baseball, my timeline has been flooded with "wake me up when it's football season" posts.  Now that NFL training camps are open and preseason is here, everybody's posting all of this news about how this receiver is torching that high-profile cornerback or how some former No. 2 overall draft pick is back in impressive form...in practice.  Although football has been my favorite sport since taking the reins from basketball in the late 90s and hasn't been unseated by any other sport since, I won't be as interested in football as I am with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio until the Olympics are over.  Are you looking at your computer screen or smart phone with heat in your eyes and bewilderment in your brain?  Good...now allow me to explain...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Ninetysomething Days of Summer, #5 Summer of '87

I remember WKYS 93.9 FM's "93 Days of Summer" campaign during my teenage years, which was cool because there were always ticket giveaways for the Budweiser SuperFest and numerous other events as well as a summer's worth of life-changing, season-defining music.  However, those 93 days worth of excitement weren't just limited to good music.  If part of a summer program, there were plenty of field trips to museums, swimming pools and amusement parks.  If it involved just chilling around the way, there was a progression from playgrounds and sandboxes to balling at the court and playing endless games of Uno, I Declare War, Tonk and Spades.  Although I was a bit more of a homebody between the ages of 8 and 14, I could never resist the temptation of the sun.  So as an ode to dope music, warm weather and all of the spoils that accompany my second favorite season, I bring to you the "Ninetysomething Days of Summer" edition of my "Rave & Favorite Five".  Despite going back and forth about which decade is my favorite between the 1980s and 1990s, I kick things off with the only summer from the 80s to make this countdown.  Despite a largely forgettable winter and spring and the second most bittersweet fall of my life, the 94 days of the summer of '87 still added up to the year's best quarter by a landslide.  Although other summers like 1990, 1996 and 2001 could've easily given 1987 a run for its money, this particular summer largely involved free fun and sentimentality.  So without wasting any more precious blog post space, let's rewind the clock 29 years and dig into the five reasons why the summer of '87 made my list...

Get Down or Sit Down, Part 4: Razing the Perch

Although social media and the age of information have been great for networking and expanding movements like never before, these advents have also given way to a much bigger problem: the self-righteous, pseudo-omniscient members of our society now have even wider, taller soapboxes on which they can prop themselves.  Granted, every last one of us sound off about something we feel is unjust or appalling and we often pull no punches when doing so.  However, when you hear the grumblings throughout the Black community regarding how we can't seem to unify to literally save our lives, that lack can often be attributed to the particularly and disturbingly pervasive mentality of "Blacktivism" from the comforts of "the perch".  In lieu of looking at all of their fellow brothers and sisters laterally, they often address 90 percent of them vertically.  So in the fourth and final part of "Get Down or Sit Down", I challenge many of my high-minded brothers and sisters as I "raze the perch" to cement a more down-to-Earth foundation for the movement...

Scribbler's "Get Out of My Brain!" Countdown of the Month (August 2016)

The month of July leading into August was an interesting time for music for a few reasons.  First and foremost, this is one of the few times where every song that entered the countdown stayed on the countdown--which is ironic because the beginning of the month found me flooding my ears with music, but I was probably tired of having melodies and beats on my mind for the majority of the last 24 days.  Second, there were a lot of times where one song would make me think of another song or one moment would remind me of another moment where I was thinking about the same song or sets of songs...pretty much a real fustercluck.  Third, I've had quite a few instances where I've had the desire to hear music either from those with whom I've broken bread or who I've known better than the back of my hand.  (Hold on...checking this extra hairy patch on the back of my hand...okay, I'm good.)  So in the August edition of the "'Get Out of My Brain!' Countdown of the Month", you all will witness "Moments In Intersectionality", "Moments In Shameless Plugging" and two other songs that won't leave me alone.  Let's jump to it...